Prometheus 6

Everyone Agrees
An oft-heard opinion seems popular even if it comes from only one person
By Melinda Wenner

With the 2008 presidential election only a year away, the merits of each candidate are becoming a common topic of conversation. But how do our brains, after hearing so many different opinions, gauge the popularity of each one? New research findings suggest that we judge a viewpoint’s prevalence by how familiar it is—regardless of whether we have heard it five times from one person or once each from five different people.

Unspoken Accents
Nonverbal language reveals your roots
By Siri Carpenter

Just as an Irish brogue or a Minnesota lilt betrays one’s background, facial expressions and body language can also reveal our cultural origins. According to new research, such “nonverbal accents” also provoke stereotyped perceptions of others’ ­personalities.

Many researchers regard nonverbal behavior to be a universal language—wherever you go, a smile looks like a smile. But a growing body of research suggests that where we hang or hats shapes both how we display emotion and how we receive it.